Food waste disposer



April 1, 1969 c. R. LOPP E AL 3,436,029

FOOD WASTE DISPOSER Filed Oct. 11, 1966 NVENTORS CHARLES R. LOPP JAMES G. RUSPINO BY ,JM :Wmw

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,436,029 FOOD WASTE DISPOSER Charles R. Lopp and James G. Ruspino, White Bear Lake,

Minn., assignors to Whirlpool Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 585,866 Int. Cl. B02c 13/16, 18/42 US. Cl. 241194 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to food waste disposers of the type installed in kitchen sinks for grinding food waste to a sufliciently small particle size so that it can be passed into the sewer with flushing water.

Waste disposers of this type customarily employ a motor driven flywheel in a hopper or casing having means on the flywheel for striking the food waste and for projecting it into a surrounding shredder ring having cutting elements thereon. The subject of the present invention is the hammer or striking and projecting element mounted on the flywheel for both striking the food waste with repeated blows and projecting it into the surrounding shredder ring.

One of the features of this invention is to provide improved apparatus comprising a hammer mounted on a food waste disposer flywheel and having means thereon for striking the food waste with repeated blows and simultaneously projecting it repeatedly into the shredder ring until the particles have been reduced to a suflicient size to pass outwardly with flushing water into the sewer.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view partially in vertical section illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the flywheel and hammer portion of the apparatus.

FIGURE 3 is an outer end elevational view of the hammer of FIGURE 2 looking substantially from line 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the lea-ding side of the hammer from substantially line 44 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is an inner end elevational view of the hammer looking substantially from line 55 of FIG- URE 2.

In the illustrated embodiment the food waste disposer comprises a lower motor casing 11 having located at the top thereof an upwardly extending motor shaft 12 on which is mounted a circular flywheel 13 for rotation thereof with the central axis of rotation of the flywheel coinciding with the axis of the motor shaft 12.

Surrounding the flywheel 13 and extending upwardly thereof and tapering somewhat toward the top is a hOpper or casing 14 provided at the top with a large opening 15 through which food waste can be passed into the interior of the casing 14. This opening is normally closed Patented Apr. 1, 1969 by a resilient displaceable closure 16 of the customary type. The disposer 10 is mounted in position by a customary mounting flange 17, mounting ring 18 and screws 19 and 20 on a sink flange 21. The sink flange 21 which defines the drain into the disposer 10 is provided with the usual cover 22.

Leading from the vicinity of the flywheel 13 is'a customary outlet 23 and elbow 24 leading to a sewer drain.

Extending around the flywheel 13 and upwardly thereof is a shredder ring 25 provided with cutting and shredding elements 26 therein of conventional design and operation. As can be seen from FIGURE 1, the outer periphery 27 of the circular flywheel 13 is spaced slightly inwardly of the bottom of the ring 25 so as to provide rotational clearance.

The flywheel 13 has mounted on the upper surface thereof a hammer 28 with preferably a plurality of these hammers being provided. In the illustrated embodiment there are two. The hammers are shown most clearly in FIGURES 2-5 inclusive.

The flywheel 13 is adapted to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction when viewed in plan, as indicated by the arrow 38 in FIGURE 2. Each hammer 28 is exactly alike so that for simplicity only one will be described in detail.

Each hammer 28 has an outer end 29 closely adjacent the periphery 27 of the flywheel 13 and thus also closely adjacent the inner surface of the shredder ring 25. As is shown in FIGURE 2, this outer end 29 is curved to a shorter radius than the curvature radius of the periphery 27 and thus of the shredder ring 25.

Each hammer 28 is pivotally mounted on the flywheel 13 on an integral shaft 30 which extends through a correspondingly shaped opening in the flywheel. The center of the shaft 30 coincides with the pivotal axis of the hammer and this axis is closer to the inner end 31 of the hammer than it is to the outer end 29.

Each hammer 28 adjacent its outer end is provided with a relatively thick and heavy hammer mass 32 which includes the outer end 29 with this hammer portion having an uper leading edge 33 and a leading surface 34 beneath this edge. This leading surface 34 is sloped downwardly and inwardly toward flywheel 13 to produce an overhang at the leading edge 32 and is inclined outwardly toward the periphery 27 of the flywheel 13 and thus to the shredder ring 25.

Each hammer 28 at its inner end also is provided with an upstanding projection 35 that is adjacent the rotational axis 36 of the flywheel. This projection 35 is provided with a downwardly and forwardly sloped leading edge 37. The projection 35 is for preventing waste from collecting at the flywheel axis 36.

With the hammer construction of this invention the grinding is more eflicient with the result that the large waste particles are reduced to the desired degree of fineness much faster and with less power consumption. This is true primarily because the inclined and sloped surface 34 on the leading hammer edge not only strikes the particles with greater force but also projects them outwardly against the shredder ring 25 and in addition produces a pumping action on the liquid and the waste with the force of this pumping action being directed downwardly and outwardly into the shredding area. The hammers provide continuous contact of the waste material on the shredder ring until the material has been reduced sufficiently in size to pass outwardly through the outlet 23 to the drain.

Having described our invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed is defined as follows:

1. In a food waste disposer having a flywheel rotatable about an axis in a direction of rotation and a shredder ring adjacent and around said flywheel, apparatus comprising: a hammer mounted on said flywheel having means providing a leading surface adjacent said ring sloped downwardly and inwardly toward said flywheel and extending completely to the outer extremity of said hammer that is adjacent said ring to provide an overhang, said leading surface being inclined outwardly and rearwardly with respect to said direction of rotation to said extremity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said hammer has an outer curved surface at said extremity adjacent said shredder ring and curved to a smaller radius than said ring.

3. In a food waste disposer having a flywheel rotatable about an axis and a shredder ring adjacent and around said flywheel, apparatus comprising: a hammer mounted on said flywheel having means providing a leading surface adjacent said ring sloped downwardly and inwardly toward said flywheel to provide an overhang and inclined outwardly toward said ring, said hammer is pivotally mounted on said flywheel about a pivot axis that is spaced from and substantially parallel to said flywheel axis and said flywheel is provided with an upstanding projection means for preventing waste from collecting at said flywheel axis.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said projection means is provided with a downwardly and outwardly sloped leading edge.

5. In a food waste disposer having a flywheel rotatable about an axis and a shredder ring adjacent and around said flywheel, apparatus comprising: a plurality of hammers mounted on said flywheel having means providing a leading surface adjacent said ring sloped downwardly and inwardly toward said flywheel to provide an overhang and inclined outwardly toward said ring wherein each said hammer is pivotally mounted on said flywheel about a pivot axis that is spaced from and substantially parallel to said flywheel axis and has an inner end located between said pivot axis and said flywheel axis provided with an upstanding projection means for preventing waste from collecting at said flywheel axis, the projection means being provided with a downwardly and folwardly sloped leading edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primaly Examiner.

FRANK T. YOST, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

